New Hampshire

The State of New Hampshire is embarking on a statewide initiative to improve care for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.  Through persistent and determined effort, New Hampshire EMS leadership has developed momentum that now supports infrastructure to undertake the HeartRescue initiative.  Starting in 2017, the State will undertake the process of case surveillance and begin participating in the CARES registry.  Simultaneously, the State has developed an EMS curriculum for training best practices in EMS high-performance CPR.  New Hampshire will partner with other HeartRescue leadership to develop a Resuscitation Academy forum in order to efficiently disseminate training.

Website

State of New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, State Department of Health

Key Strengths

• New England Best Practices.  The collective of New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont not only share borders, but also share similar challenges when attempting to improve resuscitation care.   The EMS organizations need common-sense strategies to achieve best practices in often under-resourced circumstances.   The States’ medical leadership (Dr. James Suozzi – New Hampshire, Dr. Matt Sholl – Maine, Dr. Dan Wolfson – Vermont) work proactively to share best practices in order to deliver best care in a range of settings.  The collaboration provides the foundation for efficient and informed approach to resuscitation.
• Consolidated structure.  New Hampshire has a singular medical director for both EMS and dispatch.  Dr. James Suozzi has responsibility for direction and oversight of these critical links in chain of resuscitation.  The consolidated leadership provides a fairly unique structure to coordinate quality improvement for cardiac arrest.

Contact

Dr. James Suozzi, EMS State Medical Director, Director of Emergency Care, Cheshire Medical Center, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene